Cavs' Front Office Mistakes Pushing LeBron and Co. to Breaking Point
KEN BERGER
JANUARY 30, 2018

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers players, from left, LeBron James, Isaiah Thomas, Kevin Love, JR Smith and Jae Crowder take a break during a review in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis. Frustrated by their recent poor play in a season where their NBA title hopes seem to be slipping away, the Cavaliers held an emotional pre-practice meeting on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, in hopes of clearing the air. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
Jim Mone/Associated Press
CLEVELAND — To borrow from the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, the excrement hit the air conditioning in Cleveland over the past week. Big time.

Confusion and frustration have swirled around a Cavaliers team that has lost 10 of 15 games since Christmas, with Isaiah Thomas hopelessly struggling to fill the void left by what looks like a disastrous decision to trade Kyrie Irving to the Celtics.

Grievances have been aired, privately and publicly, and most notably in a now-infamous team meeting that started with Thomas questioning why Kevin Love left the floor three minutes into a blowout loss to Oklahoma City and devolved into a full-blown finger-pointing session in which no one—from Tyronn Lue to neophyte general manager Koby Altman to LeBron James—was spared.


"There's an old saying: 'Nothing haunts us like the things we don't say,'" Love told Bleacher Report. "We have to get it out in the open, and we have to grow from it. And if there are any grievances or things that we just need to take care of, let's either put it to rest or find different ways we can grow from them—whether it's on or off the floor."

What became crystal clear over the past week of turmoil is that the Cavs' dysfunction goes a lot deeper than Love or any one player.

What we're witnessing are cracks in the winning culture and organizational structure that were supposed to have been unshakeable when James decided to return from Miami in 2014. The week of controversy surrounding Love and his absence was merely a window into that dysfunction, not the cause of it.

"This was not as much about Kevin Love as it was a bunch of players reaching their breaking point with a culture that was increasingly difficult to be a part of," a person familiar with the organizational dynamics told B/R.

What happened? Well, David Griffin, the general manager who used to put out all of these fires and have the hard conversations with players, coaches and agents, was shown the door in June. With owner Dan Gilbert firmly in charge of basketball decisions once again, and 35-year-old Altman along for the ride, the team caved to Irving's July trade demand and sent him to the Celtics.


Irving's replacement, Thomas, finally returned from a hip injury this month and has fit in like a machete in a sewing kit. He's been high-volume and low-percentage on offense—much to his teammates' dismay, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic—and even worse on defense. (In his first nine games through Friday, Thomas had a team-worst defensive box plus/minus of minus-5.9.)

Kevin Love's unexplained absence from a recent loss to Oklahoma City opened some long-festering grievances swirling around the team.
Kevin Love's unexplained absence from a recent loss to Oklahoma City opened some long-festering grievances swirling around the team.David Liam Kyle/Getty Images
"If IT is going to be high-volume, no-efficiency and a poor defender, that's pretty hard to absorb," a rival executive told B/R. "The pieces don't fit."

Thomas, an uber-confident 5'9" point guard, has bristled at suggestions that any of this is his fault. And in fairness, he just got here.

"We've been a lowest-five defensive team in the NBA the whole time," Thomas said at practice Saturday, after the Cavs finally got back in the win column with a 115-108 victory over the Pacers on Friday night. "So when I come back, it's my fault now? Which, life isn't fair, but that's not fair, bro. At all."

Thomas' remarkable media session Saturday pulled back the curtain on all of the internal tumult that has rocked the Cavs in the past week. When asked to clarify his role in the players' questioning of Love about his whereabouts last weekend, Thomas leveled an unfathomable accusation: Nobody with the team had told the players why Love was not on the bench after leaving the OKC game, why he wasn't in the locker room afterward and why he wasn't at practice the next day.


"I think the overall message on Monday was addressing a situation that a lot of people questioned," Thomas said. "And we're not talking about Kevin Love's illness. We just didn't know where he was, at the end of the day. To be real, we didn't know where he was. We didn't know why he wasn't on the bench supporting his teammates and why he wasn't in the locker room after the game.

"And then he missed the next practice, which it still wasn't addressed. So we wanted to address it when we saw him or when we came together and everybody was there. And that's what it was. … We just wanted to know where he was and why he didn't play."

Thomas said he made it clear to Love he wasn't blaming him for the 24-point shellacking at the hands of the Thunder.

"We just wanted to know where was the support?" Thomas said. "That was the only question. Which we found out he was very sick and he went home."

Communication has been a recurring problem within the Cavs. When ESPN's Dave McMenamin texted a player in June to get reaction to Griffin's ouster, the player replied, "Griff's leaving?"

Isaiah Thomas' struggle to find a rhythm in Cleveland and his close ties to owner Dan Gilbert have made it difficult to gain the trust of his teammates.
Isaiah Thomas' struggle to find a rhythm in Cleveland and his close ties to owner Dan Gilbert have made it difficult to gain the trust of his teammates.Ronald Cortes/Getty Images

There was little clarity in the locker room, too, when Derrick Rose left the team in November to contemplate whether he had the physical and mental stamina to continue battling injuries. (Rose returned Jan. 18 and is still trying to regain his conditioning—and his teammates' trust.)

But for one of your All-Stars to be sent home during a game with an illness without telling the rest of the team what was going on? That's…incredible.

"They were frustrated that they didn't know about it," said a person familiar with the team's dynamics who corroborated Thomas' account. "It wasn't that Kevin left. It was that nobody addressed the team and said, 'Look, Kevin's not going to be here tomorrow, and this is what's going on.' It's disarray."

A second person with knowledge of the situation told B/R there was no attempt to hide Love's whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding his absence.

"I know for a fact that if any of [the players] had asked a single question, the training staff would've told them where he was," the person said.

Thomas—increasingly frustrated and defensive about being blamed for the Cavs' recent struggles—aired it all out Saturday with reporters. At once forthright and defiant, Thomas took offense when asked if anyone on the team had confronted him about his shot selection.


"If they're worried about my shot selection, they must not have seen me play the last few years," Thomas said. "That's all I can say about that. If somebody's worried about that, what did you trade me here for? To not shoot? To not find my rhythm? To not be Isaiah Thomas?

"I can't be anybody else. So whoever's saying that, I don't know what I'm here for if I'm not here to score the ball and make plays after being off seven months."

The story of how and why Thomas got here is where the Cavs' latest Eastern Conference title defense started going sideways. (After beating the Pistons 121-104 on Sunday night, they still have the third-best record in the East and have won two in a row for the first time since mid-December.)

Did the Cavs have to trade Irving, with two years left on his contract at the time of his request? Or could they have pulled a Gregg Popovich and said "no," as Pop told LaMarcus Aldridge last season when he came to the Spurs with a similar list of grievances?

The departure of former GM David Griffin removed a key buffer in the Cavs organization for players to work through their disputes.
The departure of former GM David Griffin removed a key buffer in the Cavs organization for players to work through their disputes.Tony Dejak/Associated Press
"It works for Pop because he's Pop," a league source familiar with the situation told B/R. "Nobody has that reverence for anyone there, so there was no way that could happen. … Kyrie didn't trust he could get what he needed out of that group anymore."


Thomas has become a favorite of Gilbert, and they often exchange calls and text messages, a league source familiar with their relationship told B/R. This isn't necessarily unusual on a team with an owner who is as involved in the basketball side of things as Gilbert is. It also isn't great for locker room chemistry, because the rest of the players know it.

"LeBron just looks at everybody as a shill for Dan," the league source said.

When Griffin was let go, he'd been working on a couple of contingency plans in the event Irving's growing discontent with the team and organization couldn't be reversed, two decision-makers within the league told B/R.

One was a trade for the Bulls' Jimmy Butler, which never got close to fruition, one of the people said. The other was in more advanced stages: A three-team deal that would've brought Paul George and Eric Bledsoe (who shares James' agent, Rich Paul) to Cleveland.

There are two misperceptions about these trade discussions. First, that they were initiated by James' camp; they weren't, multiple league sources said. And second, that Irving finding out the Cavs were trying to trade him was what pushed him to want out. Irving's agent, Jeff Wechsler, was kept fully abreast of the talks, and it was understood by all parties that if Irving wanted to stay, then he'd stay, the sources said.


But Griffin wasn't around long enough to complete any deal. In a meeting with Gilbert the Monday before the draft, it was mutually decided that they would part ways. There was a new basketball sheriff in town. His initials were D.G., but unlike Griffin, he also owned the team.

As The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported after Irving was dealt to the Celtics in August (the holdup being Thomas' ailing hip), Gilbert was the driving force behind the trade—in large part due to how much he coveted the Celtics' unprotected first-round pick from the Nets.

Sure enough, Gilbert was spotted with Altman and several Cavs scouts at the Oklahoma-Alabama game Saturday, taking in a matchup of two top points guards in the draft, Trae Young and Collin Sexton.

Though owner Dan Gilbert reportedly tried to get a long-term commitment from LeBron James, the four-time MVP has steadfastly refused.
Though owner Dan Gilbert reportedly tried to get a long-term commitment from LeBron James, the four-time MVP has steadfastly refused.Jason Miller/Getty Images
"The word is out that Dan is running things," a rival executive told B/R. "Frankly, that's where he's happiest and the role he's most comfortable in."

If there's a silver lining in Cleveland, it's twofold. First, if nothing else, the meeting last Monday introduced something that had been sorely lacking within the team: communication.

"We've got to communicate better," Thomas said. "We've got to have each other's backs. We've got to trust each other on both ends of the floor. And as you can tell, that trust is not there yet."


Second, Lue may have found something useful in a lineup change he implemented for the past two games. Tristan Thompson replaced the disappointing Jae Crowder in the starting lineup, allowing Love to slide back to his natural power forward position—as opposed to enduring mismatches at both ends of the floor at the 5. Love had his second straight effective game Sunday night with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting (4-of-6 from three-point range) with 11 rebounds against Detroit.

"I think it lets me for the most part roam kind of where I'd like and be free-flowing throughout the offense," Love told B/R. "Being out there with Tristan, we're interchangeable in terms of who we guard on the defensive end. But on the offensive end, he's more of a traditional pick-and-roll guy.

"I'm able to pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll and come off pin-downs and offensive rebound and space the floor. So I think for me, it's just being able to pick and choose where I am on the floor as far as offense goes."

But the overarching issues remain. The Cavs are older and slower than most of their opponents, and barring a deal at the trade deadline, these faults will only be magnified come playoff time.


"It's not preparation from a coaching standpoint; it's really that they're not athletic enough to compete with these younger teams that are running up and down against them," a league coaching source told B/R. "There's chemistry and effort that people question a lot, but it comes down to the athleticism of their team. These teams that they're losing to are just running them out of the gym."

The experience and leadership void created by Griffin's departure hasn't been filled, and the impact was never more evident than in this past week of avoidable controversy.

Then there's Thomas. Despite finding some rhythm Sunday night (14 points on 5-of-12 shooting with seven assists, though no minutes in the fourth quarter), he's been an awful fit so far.

Gilbert's desire to acquire a potential lottery pick from the Celtics reportedly drove him to push for the team to trade Kyrie Irving once he made his trade request.
Gilbert's desire to acquire a potential lottery pick from the Celtics reportedly drove him to push for the team to trade Kyrie Irving once he made his trade request.David Liam Kyle/Getty Images
"I'm in a new system, a totally new player that came in in the middle of January," Thomas said. "A player that's supposed to be very impactful on this organization. That's not going to work overnight. I don't care who you are.

"… I'm trying to figure out how to play with LeBron. I'm trying to figure out how to play with Kevin Love. At the same time, I'm trying to get my rhythm back in real, live action. So that's going to take time."


But the biggest issue of all? As usual, it surrounds LeBron.

As ESPN's Jackie MacMullan reported this month, James was unwilling to give Gilbert a commitment that he would stay with the Cavs beyond the 2017-18 season when asked around the time Irving was being dealt last summer.

It's no surprise. First, that is always how LeBron has handled his impending free agency. Second, is an organization with Gilbert as the top basketball decision-maker going to be something he'll be willing to sign up for again in July?

I tried to pose that question to James on his way out of Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday night. He wanted no part of it.

"I got nothing to say tonight," he said.

Earlier, after this rare, joyful victory over the reeling Pistons, Kyle Korver wondered what all the drama was about. As if it wasn't obvious.

"On the inside, like, it's OK," Korver said. "On the outside, it's like, 'This thing is burning down.' It's crazy."

It is, indeed.



Ken Berger covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @KBergNBA.

The departure of former GM David Griffin removed a key buffer in the Cavs organization for players to work through their disputes.Tony Dejak/Associated Press

rusty - I know you liked Griff same as I did.

Seems his departure though will end up simply speeding up the tearing down of the team built to win one.

It was fun while it lasted but this team is done - stick a fork in them.

Even when Love comes back one thing stuck in my head from hearing Griffin on Sirius - he said the league has changed since they signed Tristan. They no longer can keep up with teams in the league with TT and Love in together - yet it's the only way they operate at all defensively.

In the article Love obviously states his preference for power forward - and rightfully so.

Hey the team got it done. But now they are a bunch of mismatched pieces and Griffin was stopped from making some moves to address that. As well, Griffin is a total class act and I don't doubt he was the "conscience" of the team. That's all gone now.

As a basketball fan - it does make the Eastern Conference more interesting - wonder what moves Boston will make before the deadline NOW knowing the Cavs are vulnerable THIS year. The wait is over for the East.

Well no one complain that they don't know why Love left yesterday's game early and won't be playing for the next six weeks.
What does that do trade plans?

Bottom line. Griffin is a good guy at heart. Gilbert knew the clock was ticking on LeBron......

Anything is possible but I would have tried to trade Love, Thomas, or Thompson or anyone that does not have a no trade clause. (LeBron's got one.)

I would not trade Brooklyn pick but I would try to get Bradley and Jordan from Clippers and Hill from Kings for this year and see what happens..

I actually think that their own 1st is a reasonable price for DJ and Bradley. DJ’s contract is up and Bradley currently injured. That way they can keep the Brooklyn pick and 1sts these days are worth more - making it worth Clippers while to do. Obviously we’d have to send some salary their way.

I agree that the Cavs first and equal salary should get it done.

On a related note, we must have read their minds rusty:

6 possible trade destinations for DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams

The Clippers are still open to trading DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams. Where could they end up?
By Kristian Winfield@Krisplashed Jan 31, 2018, 3:00pm EST


Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Clippers pressed the big red button and signaled to the basketball universe that they weren’t satisfied with being merely good when they traded Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons for a package of Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and a 2018 first-round pick. Now, as the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline draws nearer, the Clippers could press a series of smaller red buttons that could position the franchise for a swift, successful rebuild around draft picks and young players.

On a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast with ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins — who has covered the Clippers extensively — said Los Angeles wants “to be competitive and recast [the roster] at the same time.”

“They don’t believe that free agents want to play with guys who are 20 years old or guys who are 35 or 36 years old,” Jenkins said. “They think that they will need good, young players — maybe not great young players — who can attract free agents. That’s sort of the plan.”

If the Clippers’ leadership, headlined by owner Steve Ballmer and executives Lawrence Frank, Mike Winger, and Trent Redden, made anything clear, it’s this: Jockeying with the Nuggets and Trail Blazers for a playoff spot only to be blown off the face of the planet by the Warriors or Rockets isn’t good enough. Los Angeles wants to position itself as a perennial contender four or five years down the road.

Here are a few trades that help get them there:

DeAndre Jordan must go
Lob City suffered a premature death when Chris Paul orchestrated a trade to Houston, and the coffin was closed with Griffin’s deal to Detroit. Now, it’s time to bury the casket and ship elsewhere the last remaining pillar of those glory-ish days.

Jordan is 29 years old and is still in the prime of his career. He’s averaging 11.8 points, 14.9 rebounds, and a block per game. Teams that need help defending the paint and controlling the glass would be wise to poach Jordan if they are in pursuit of a deep playoff push, or even a championship.

Jordan back to Dallas?
The Clippers could explore dealing Jordan to the Mavericks, who reached a verbal agreement with him in free agency in 2015 only for him to turn around and re-sign in Los Angeles. (Our resident Mavs expert Tim Cato says this scenario is unlikely, but not impossible if it’s an amazing deal.)

Let’s rule out the Mavericks, who aren’t giving up a top-10 pick for a shotblocker in the latter half of his prime. While we’re at it, let’s rule out the other 14 teams likely banking on draft picks for a boost next season.

OK, what about Cleveland?
The Cavaliers probably aren’t willing to part ways with the Brooklyn pick without assurances that LeBron James is re-signing long-term. But if they’ll give up their own pick, a projected late first-rounder, Cleveland could land a pretty big fish.

The Cavs pursued deals for both Jordan and George Hill, according to The New York Times’ Marc Stein, but the deal with Hill recently fell apart. It is unclear if there was any traction between Cleveland and Los Angeles regarding a Jordan trade, but if the Cavaliers pursued, there is interest.

The Clippers would get a pick in the mid-20s along with Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert. Thompson has two years worth $36 million left on his contract following this season, but he’s a workhorse who will always provide value on the glass. And something about Shumpert screams Los Angeles.

This would be worth exploring, though it’s unclear how much of a help Jordan is against the Warriors, who the Cavs will ultimately see in the NBA Finals if they make it there. (Unless the Rockets knock them out.)

The Wizards could use Jordan, right?

The Wizards need a rim protector and lob-pass finisher like Jordan, but their salary cap is clogged at the top with John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter accounting for more than half of the payroll.

Washington would need to unload one of Marcin Gortat or Ian Mahinmi and still can’t really afford to give up any of its young players, like Kelly Oubre. For that reason, unless the Wizards can pull in a third team or are willing to give up, say, Oubre, Jordan to Washington is dead.

The Bucks need a push to compete in the East
That leaves the Bucks, who have several young players and could stand to move a few if it meant landing a rim-runner and protector like Jordan:


The trade gives Milwaukee a fringe All-Star in the frontcourt. It gives Giannis Antetokounmpo a pressure release with a reliable lob-pass finisher and adds a player with six years of playoff experience under his belt.

More importantly, it gives the Clippers Milwaukee’s 2018 mid-to-late first-round pick, a serviceable young shot blocker in John Henson, and a bulldog of a point guard in Matthew Dellavedova. D.J. Wilson, a rookie, hasn’t shown much in limited time, but he is 6’10 and seems to be working on his three-point shot.

Getting the most for Lou Williams
Williams’ stock will never be higher than it is right now. At least we say that until he goes off for another 35 points off the bench.

That’s how flammable and unpredictable Williams has been for the Clippers this season. He’s been a walking bucket all of his career, but this season, something’s clicked. He’s averaging a career-high 23.5 points per game. In the month of January, he’s the league’s second-highest scorer (28.2 PPG) behind Stephen Curry.

The drawback to trading for Williams, though, is this: He becomes a free agent at the end of the season and can leave your favorite team hanging to sign elsewhere on the drop of a dime. Teams will be wary of giving up too much for him, but the chance at boosting the bench with the league’s leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate is too hard to pass up on — especially for those competing for a deep playoff run.

OK, so surely it’s Williams to Cleveland?
A few teams come to mind right off the bat, and the Cavaliers are one of them. Cleveland is struggling with some awful point guard play thanks to injuries to both Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Rose. Williams solves some of the Cavaliers’ problems as a professional bucket-getter off the bench. The Cavaliers just don’t have very much outside of their own pick to get him, and an earlier proposal that included J.R. Smith and Thompson — according to Stein — did not materialize into a deal.

The issue here is that Los Angeles could easily get a better deal elsewhere, and there are other teams who will want Williams’ services. Consider this: Each of the bottom 10 teams in bench scoring, according to NBA.com, are playoff teams.

How about the Timberwolves?
Pairing Williams and Jamal Crawford is something you’d only do in a video game, but could it work on the basketball court?


We’d all pay good money to find out.

The Pelicans should be looking to make deals
The Pelicans need scoring -- and fast. Williams is the guy who can help. New Orleans also doesn’t need its first-round pick in this year’s draft. It needs to convince Anthony Davis that the franchise can properly build around him by winning now.

Nothing spells win now more than trading young players and a pick for a talented scorer who could leave in the summer.


Could Cleveland pull off the unthinkable?
If the Cavaliers are actually willing to move the Brooklyn pick in pursuit of a championship this year, they could potentially land both Jordan AND Williams in one fell swoop:

Cleveland might need a third team to help facilitate this deal, but this trade shores up the interior and adds a power-packed punch from the bench. It does nothing, though, for its lack of perimeter defensive effort, which continues to be a problem.

After trading their biggest superstar acquired through the draft this century, the Clippers are expected to make several more moves that will ensure the best position for their future. Sure, they could keep Jordan and Williams, but hauling in the best return for the two stars puts Los Angeles back on track for future success.

We don’t know if Ballmer & Co. will indeed pull the trigger on a deal that brings the house down. But after he shipped Griffin to Detroit, anything’s possible.

Looks like Jameer Nelson and Tony Allen are going to be buy out available soon. Just got traded to Chicago with Asik.

Got to admit that Lebrons camp (you know it was) tossing out that LeBron would be interested in the Warriors if they freed up a max salary slot tells you how big of a sissy he is.

Love that pickup by the Pels, like how they are shaking off the Boogie disaster and staying in it! Mirotic a nice pickup and perhaps Greg Monroe to come there as well.

rusty2 wrote:Got to admit that Lebrons camp (you know it was) tossing out that LeBron would be interested in the Warriors if they freed up a max salary slot tells you how big of a sissy he is.

As lot of feelings on this but to me this is totally unlikely. I don't even think the Warriors would want him honestly.

They would have to move one of their current star pieces and they are a perfect combination of egoless stars. Way too much baggage and age with Lebron for them to clear the decks there.

To me Houston is the place after the Warriors win again this year. Goes without saying that Chris Paul would be an important recruiter.

All Golden State has to do is trade Klay Thompson and pieces for LeBron. Lebron either leaves for nothing or the Cavs except something.

My 2 cents says, that Warriors would not want LeBron on their team.

That may be true....... Important to remember that wherever Lebron goes that it will most likely go by trade so thar brings more teams in to play.